Old Delta 12" 46-701 in great condition. Had it about 20+ years and turned 1 part.

Tool restsDec 13th, 2017 at 7:25pm

Thinking about getting a better tool rest for my Delta lathe with the cast iron rests full of nicks. Nova advertises there's as having a stainless steel rod on top but is it hardened or just SS rod? Robust advertises there's as a hardened steel rod on top, but do the angled ends of the guide part cause any problems with the fingers sliding along? Anyone have the pros and cons of these two brands or is there a better choice.? Thanks much for the help. Looking at a 6" with a 1" shank. Geo.

Robust uses A2 hardened drill rod for their top surface. I have no idea about what Nova uses, but stainless comes in many different hardnesses. With the drill rod, you can take a file to it or a hack saw blade, and you can get some scuff marks, but no dents and dings. I think Steve Sinner (think that is his last name) makes that type of rest as well. They are kind of like variable speed, once you use them, you will never go back.

I guess i'm set on the Robust 6" tool rest. They also make it in a "low profile" version . Any advantage to this one over the standard height??Geo.

George,

The low profile version of the tool rest will allow you to get into tighter places than the standard version. For example, let's say you're hollowing a deep bowl and you'd like to reach as deep as you possibly can inside the bowl with your tool rest so that the rest is as close as possible to the wood. You will not be able to reach as far inside a deep bowl with the standard (non-low profile) version of the rest as you would be able to with the low profile version, because as you reach deep enough into the bowl with the standard version, at some point--once you move your banjo close enough--the bottom of the rest will make contact with the rim of your bowl.

To prevent this problem under such circumstances, I'd recommend the Robust low profile tool rests like many others above.